Guest ratchethack Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Since first seeing the movie in '63, I was curious about how the WWII Wehrmacht got ahold of a '61 T120 so ol' McQ could pinch it. D'you reckon he could've cleared that fence with a R12 of the era? No. . .no, I reckon not. . . Link to comment
gstallons Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 You couldn't clear a San Diego phone book with a WW 11 era BMW. Link to comment
Skeeve Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Since first seeing the movie in '63, I was curious about how the WWII Wehrmacht got ahold of a '61 T120 so ol' McQ could pinch it. D'you reckon he could've cleared that fence with a R12 of the era? No. . .no, I reckon not. . . The real irony being that the Nazis were (in)famous for? dedicated to? utilizing captured equipment [being that there was no way for their industrial capacity to satisfy the needs of their war machine] and probably did have a slew of captured Brit bikes used in the rear echelons where Hilts would have been likely as not to get one. Of course, only the U.S. used twins win WWII; all the Brit bikes were singles [which, being lighter, probably would have made the jump easier, forgetting for a moment that it's all made-up Hollywood B.S. anyway...] Anyone else a fan of the movie The Tao of Steve besides me? Here it is, more than 30 years after his death, & we still haven't come up w/ a movie star who's as cool as Steve McQueen... Oops! Look at the time! I think I'm overdue for watching On Any Sunday again! Link to comment
Skeeve Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 D'you reckon he could've cleared that fence with a R12 of the era? Oh, I forgot to mention: Clearing the fence & sticking the landing are two wildly different things! With enough ramp, he certainly could have cleared the fence... Link to comment
luhbo Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 You couldn't clear a San Diego phone book with a WW 11 era BMW. Not too sure about that. What they didn't show in the film, by reasons I unfortunately have no more detailed infos for, is that he could escape only because the whole thing was brilliantly faked. Funny enough that he didn't find it suspect that he could find this english bike inside the camp. Anyway, immediately after he had escaped, a special trained agent closed up to him to get things in the right direction. Hubert Link to comment
Guest ratchethack Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 The real irony being that the Nazis were (in)famous for? dedicated to? utilizing captured equipment [being that there was no way for their industrial capacity to satisfy the needs of their war machine] and probably did have a slew of captured Brit bikes used in the rear echelons where Hilts would have been likely as not to get one. Hm. Interesting enough, Skeeve. But a '61 T120 in WW II? FWIW: To correct myself, the R12 of the era was in reality a R51, I b'lieve. Link to comment
belfastguzzi Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 Hm '61 T120WWII?FWIW:R12 R51,I. Look here you chaps, this thread was meant to be about COOL - escape - McQueen zeitgeist – et cetera not nit-picking historical twiddle twaddle, telephone books or BMWs. Now, go research Link to comment
docc Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 What a gas! I just brought this movie home two days ago to watch with my 15 year old. He was completely captivated ny the whole sense of suspense and daring! I suppose I saw the thing once on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies around 1968. Oh, how we 'remember' things! I "remember" him jumping four or five fences and getting away! Hmmm, not so! Also, I thought McQueen did his own jumps. The riding, yes, but the jump was done by his riding buddy: Bud Ekins. Link to comment
Guzzirider Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 When I was touring Europe on my Stelvio last summer, I visited Hohenfels, a small town in Bavaria where my grandfather was kept as a POW for 4 years in Stalag 383, which now a NATO base. After reading an account of life in Stalag 383 ( a book called "Barbed Wire") it seems a million miles away from The Great Escape. Near starvation, fed on potato peelings, Siberian temperatures with crappy boilers in the huts that are so weak they have icicles on them! Some guys made hats out of old socks. The huts were nearly falling down- not through being weakened by tunnel construction- they stripped them and burned every bit of wood they could get away with. Plenty of typical British / Anzac humour though in the face of adversity. I always enjoy watching the Great Escape- especially Steve McQueen's ride on the bike. Link to comment
helicopterjim R.I.P. Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 One of my best friends when I was a young man had a good friend of Dutch descent. I didn't know until much later that his father was one of the successful escapes from Colditz Castle. This is where the baddest of the bad (Ahem- like Douglas Bader - of one leg fame -he is so bad! - shitty goalie that he was = not!) were interred. He actually made it from East Germany to Holland and survived the war. He was also an incredibly good man - don't know how to put it into words but he was so proud of anything us young lads did that was forward thinking. Anyways - TV is cool and I will always love it but reality is so much cooler than anything else!! Link to comment
pasotibbs Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 One of my best friends when I was a young man had a good friend of Dutch descent. I didn't know until much later that his father was one of the successful escapes from Colditz Castle. This is where the baddest of the bad (Ahem- like Douglas Bader - of one leg fame -he is so bad! - shitty goalie that he was = not!) were interred. He actually made it from East Germany to Holland and survived the war. He was also an incredibly good man - don't know how to put it into words but he was so proud of anything us young lads did that was forward thinking. Anyways - TV is cool and I will always love it but reality is so much cooler than anything else!! Douglas Bader actually had two false legs. I read somewhere that people are still finding hidden escape kits in Colditz Castle! Isn't Colditz where they built a glider in the attic ? If I remember the story correctly when the POW's were liberated by the Allies (Americans ?) they begged them to let them try it out, to see if it would actually fly but were not allowed ? Link to comment
helicopterjim R.I.P. Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Douglas Bader actually had two false legs. Doh1 I have to say I knew that but screwed up. I have the same story about the glider. There was a movie made where they did use a glider and although the movie was different from the real story the glider design was close to the original. My friends father escaped by hiding in a storm drain in an exercise yard. When they did roll call they had a wax bust with shoulders that they hung a coat on (2 of them) and a fellow inmate held this up to make the extra 'bodies'for the appel! Then at night it was over the fence and slowly head back to Holland posing as conscripted labourers. Link to comment
luhbo Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/aircra...itz-Glider.html Hope this site now has Zeitgeist enough for the topic owner. Hubert Link to comment
belfastguzzi Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 Hope this site now has enough... Hubert Yaaaay a cool reply purrfecto (though the air-cooled lady pic was purtty coool too) Link to comment
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